dear dear oscar

Dear old Oscar Wilde, how true that statement is.

toodle pip

knowledge of angels - jill paton walsh

'Knowledge of Angels' was recommended and loaned to me by a fellow worker, who thought l might be interested in the philosophical arguments for and against God that lay within.  They were correct, and l did enjoy the story, although l found some of Jill Paton Walsh's writing a bit too floral, even though l understand when she was rabbiting on about the plants, weather and landscape of Grandinsula, (the Island setting of the novel), it was to highlight what a medieval paradise it was, compared to the horror that was being perpetrated on it.
The story concerns a young girl who was raised by wolves, (based on The Maid of Chalons), plus the tale of  a stranger from another land who swims ashore, and declares himself an atheist when questioned about his beliefs and his land of origin.  There are then arguments aplenty between various believers, including the dreaded inquisition (who weren't expected).
The main philosophical argument centered around St Thomas Aquinas' 5 proofs of Gods Existence, and the responses to them by Palinurus (the swimming stranger), plus the argument of whether knowledge of God is inborn, as if it is proven not to be so, Palinurus cannot be a heretic.
I felt as though the sex scene had been put in to appeal to female readers, although it could be argued that it was to emphasise the strangers free loving and guilt free ways, but apart from that, an enjoyable and interesting read in yesterdays sunshine, alternating between hammock, swing, and rug on the floor.
It's a hard life, God or no God.

toodle pip

griff rhys jones - semi-detached

I shouldn't moan too much about Griff Rhys Jones' 'Semi-Detached, as it was pretty much what l expected. There's childhood tales and visits to old houses, moving schools, a detached father, some travel and shenanigans with girls, then entry into Cambridge, followed by the glory of TV and the stardom that followed.
The trouble is, l wanted some humour to be interjected among the reminiscing, and sadly for me, the lack of that was something l didn't anticipate (alongside his tales of boats).

toodle pip

the mantis shrimp

This is a great informative cartoon strip about the Mantis Shrimp.  Fascinating little creatures with psychedelic eyesight that can more than hold their own in a scrap.  I was only saying to the FPO the other day about creatures having different eyesight than humans, and having a completely different perception of the world, but 16 colour receptive cones is taking the piss.
Check out the complete strip here (where you can also buy posters and goodies).

toodle pip

coventry city's girl of the match

In the far off good old days when out and out sexism was everywhere, Coventry City used to have 'Girl of the Match' on the back cover of their programme, featuring a local (I guess) 'Dolly Bird'.
I was a young single lad at the time, never had a proper girlfriend, obsessed by football, comics and music (nothing much has changed) and l hate to admit it, but me and the girl above spent many a happy hour together.
That shows how hard it was (steady on!!) to get your hands on proper porn (or anything smutty) in them days, especially when still at school.  Now you can't avoid it.
Bloomin kids of today, they don't have any idea what it was like back in the old days (lucky sods).

toodle pip

old theatre programmes from the garage

 

Some of the old theatre programmes from the garage sort out.  I've always been a man of style and taste.

toodle pip

how times have changed - swapping cds

This letter (from  Andrew in Hull -2001) might as well be from 50 years ago, as times have changed so much.
When l got a CD player for the first time and wanted a collection of CD's to play on it, there was no way l could amass a load quickly (that sounds painful), so l used to swap discs with people who had usually met me on my travels, or corresponded with me about something else.
By swap CD's, l of course mean swap copies of them, as the next thing l bought after the CD player was a CD copier and a load of blank discs.  The swapping was great for getting hold of new artists that l wanted to try out (Muse, My Vitriol, Turin Brakes and Feeder on the letter above), and was also a superb way of building up my bootleg collection.
I know it was illegal, but l didn't care.
Over the years l have spent a fortune on music and concerts, more than anyone else l know (I am a sad bastard), plus the CD's on sale at that time were really expensive.
Now it's all Spotify, streaming, iTunes,  free music on the web (if you know where to look), and they can't give most CD's away for love or money.
Serves the greedy gits that ran the record companies right, money grabbing parasites that mot of them were.
Maybe there is such a thing as Karma.

toodle pip

hire a wig today!

Ever wanted to look special on a night, out but couldn't afford a decent wig?  Worry no more - you can hire them instead!
This does beg the question of why on earth would  anyone pay good money to wear a wig that had previously been on somebody else's head, and surely they would want to wear a wig all of the time, unless they normally had a hankering for the good old  Bobby Charlton look most of the time.  Just shave it all off.
Then again, this was the good old 1970's.  It was a different world then.
From here.

toodle pip

microscopic photographs

A broken human hair

Dust

Human eyelashes

A louse on a human hair

A Mosquito face

Rust on a nail

A vinyl record groove

I found these photographs on the top design mag site (there are more there) and they are taken from the book Microcosmos, by Brandon Broll.
I'm fascinated by  microscopic photographs, so l've blown the pictures up larger than l usually would, but  they also freak me out, and make me want to start scratching myself, imagining all the creepy crawlies running amok on and around me.  Little gits.

toodle pip

a battered motorhead programme

This is what a programme ends up looking like when you foolishly buy it before the show, roll it up and stick it down your trousers (it impresses the laydees), then head down to the front of a Motorhead gig (on this occasion at Newcastle Mayfair in 1980).
Like me, a bit worse for wear.

toodle pip

a hell of a lot of teeth

I can't remember where l got these photographs from, but this is a person who certainly has a lot of teeth, baby teeth or not.
I wonder if it's a relation of Luis Suarez , the man who can eat an orange through a tennis racket?

toodle pip

following oxford united

Although l am a Manchester United supporter, my family moved in between Oxford and Reading (to RAF Benson) while l was still at school, so l made a decision to follow one of the nearby teams while l was there as a second team, being unable to attend the Manchester United games.
As a friend at school (Hello Jonathan Knapp!) followed Oxford United, we teamed up and went to most of the games together from around 1974 - 1975 time.
I used to cycle to his house in Chalgrove, watch Football Focus (or whatever it was at the time) and then his father would drive us to and from Oxford, as he ran a TV shop there.
Many happy days were spent on the terraces at The Manor Ground, even including seeing Oxford being stuffed by Manchester City (Cup game) and beating Manchester United (when they were in the Second Division).  Oxford actually had a pretty decent home record when l was going, it was just that their away form let them down, so promotion was never a realistic option.
My attendance came to an end when l moved Oop North, as l divided my time between watching Darlington (the new local team) and travelling to Manchester to see United.
Funnily enough, one of the first games at Old Trafford that l went to on arriving Oop North (in 1976), was a FA Cup game against Oxford United (on my own by train).  I must admit, l kind of had divided loyalties that day, as l wanted Oxford to do well, but ultimately, they were still only a second team for me.  Manchester United won 2-1 (with two penalties), so l went home happy, especially after calling in to see relatives in Liverpool and going out for the night there.

toodle pip.

dodgy drinks at home

This is a picture of some pineapple juice that l left overnight a few days ago, as l had fallen asleep.  I was going to knock it back in the morning, but when l saw how it had all gathered at the bottom, it put me off doing so.
On a related note, l found some cans of lager in the spare fridge a couple of days ago that had been left and forgotten about.  They were only 5 years past their sell by date, so of course l opened one and tasted it, but it was hard for me to tell if it was OK or not, as the first drink of any lager usually tastes crap to me.  It did  fizz open, looked to be alright, and had been kept cold all that time, but as l had days off work ahead of me, l didn't want to risk getting ill, so l ended up pouring the rest of the can away (there are more left) .
Where the hell has my devil may care attitude gone?  Keith Richards would be ashamed of me.

toodle pip

following the quo

When l was young of mind and long of tooth, l often used to travel around the country to see Status Quo (and even made the papers!).  This traveling was by motorbike, train, car, hired coach or just plane old hitch hiking, and many a grand old time was had.  People may not believe it now, but Quo used to be a proper hard rocking band, but blessed with the ability to augment their heads down, no nonsense riffing with some catchy tunes. I hitched to see them in 1984 on their 'End of the Road' Tour, and also hitched to see them at their (laughably now) 'Last ever concert' at Milton Keynes Bowl.  I thought at the time it was probably a good idea to call it a day, as they had been gradually getting worse (in my eyes/ears) since 'Blue For You'.  A splendid night out could still be more or less guaranteed, but the albums had evolved into a poppier sound, which was so far away from the joy that shall forever be known as 'Piledriver', that it was hard to collate the fact they were the same band.

Nearly 30 years later - they are still going (but l am not)

toodle pip

dominique bordenave shoe artwork

I liked these Dominique Bordenave shoe artwork pieces so much, l stashed away photographs of them years ago, which have just been recovered (the long winded garage saga from below).
They are both original and funny, and his site can be found here.

toodle pip

salvaged press packs

These are about the only salvageable press packs from a box of mine that got waterlogged in the garage. Much as l am pissed off about the damage, most other boxes of stuff are pretty much unmarked, and a real treasure trove (to me at least).
These remind me of what a piss poor and amateurish operation press releases were in those days. Badly photocopied reviews with a minimal back story was the norm, and no-one thought it was unusual.  Now you would be laughed out of town producing something like these in this fantastically futuristic and computerised space age.

toodle pip

clearing out the garage (part 45)

Burning some of the old boxes. it doesn't look that bad, but this was a big, hot fire.

Some of the removed items waiting to be cleaned before entering the house

Boxes of cassette tapes

More boxes of cassette tapes

Yet more boxes of cassette tapes

The state of some of the boxes

One fully packed bin

Louise's old bike

Plenty of stuff still in the garage still to be sorted, including a pool table and giant TV

Some cleaned and unpacked stuff to be sorted

These are some of the photographs from yesterday while clearing out some of the boxes from the garage. There's plenty more stuff still to be sorted, and if it wasn't for the bloody spiders in the garage, it would be spotless by now.

toodle pip